A week of great critiques and happy-ever-after news leaves one smiling, yes?
My smiles have a little more behind them, though. I'm getting ready to take a Nice Long Break, and ever since I decided to do this, a blanket of peace has settled over my shoulders like an angora shawl. Warm, soft, nearly weightless.
How I've needed this.
My June vacation is coming up, and, as always, the blog will go dark for a while. But my personal hiatus is beginning NOW. Last year I blogged about the Between Times, and asked you how you filled that nebulous time between projects or tasks. Through your comments and some self-examination, I came to realize that I needed to revel in the lower-stress time of planning a new story or simply waiting to see what's going to appear next on my to-do list.
This year, I need more than that. I need to simply take a complete break. Honestly? Since I've begun writing seriously, I've never allowed myself to do this. To just...stop. For a little while.
I can't tell you how many people have said, "Authoress! You need a break! Go take one!" I sort of smiled and ignored them. Because...MOI? Take a BREAK??
As in...STOP WRITING THINGS?
Well, yes. Except I do have a bright yellow notebook at hand, in case a new story idea starts niggling at the back of my brain. But that's a lot different than trying to come up with a new story. Or slogging through revisions. Or whatever it is I've felt so compelled to do over the past six weeks or so.
So the blog will run as usual next week, and then my vacation will start. My revisions-free vacation (yes, I'd actually planned to work on revisions at the shore). And I will appreciate every warm and sparkly bit of fuzz you choose to send my way.
"Authoress" is depleted and needs to fill herself up again.
That's me. What about you? Do you give yourself permission to recharge as needed? And if you don't...are you thinking really hard about that? I'm learning a huge lesson right now, and I'm hoping a few of you might learn it along with me.
So you don't have to, yanno, hit rock bottom like I just did.
Share your recharging strategies! I'll be reading very carefully.
Miss Snark's First Victim
My forced battery-recharging weeks are actually coming up in July. Even though a lot of stress will be lifted in two weeks when Mittens Junior gets out of school, I still have to get through four weeks of constant 12-year-old before she goes off to her first camp week.
ReplyDeleteThen we have two weeks in a row of travel and camps. I'm a counselor at a camp with an extremely iffy connection to the outside world. It's on the outskirts of a National Park, and cell phone coverage is almost nonexistent. There's no WiFi for miles. And I get to spend most of the week in a kayak.
After that, our whole girl scout troop is trooping to Savannah. Yes, Savannah in July. Lovely! But also no time for writing or email or twitter, or blogging.
Sure, a lot of that is more stressful than regular life, but it's also so different from what I usually do, it actually recharges my batteries.
Have a great vacation!
I actually just wrote a post about taking a break on my own blog. Sometimes a writer just needs a break...good for you!!! Who wants to do revisions on the beach anyway ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for me...I like to pick up my favorite hobby that seems to slip away while I'm writing away the time. Quilting. Some people think sewing and quilting is tedious, but I love it. And I love the end result as well!
For me, writing is how I recharge. I only ever need a break when something's getting REALLY frustrating, and I CAN'T get the story to work, or I just can't fix a problem I have. Then I don't "take a break" so much as "wander off to live the rest of my life until I need to write again." "Writing again" always happens very soon.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I will be taking a forced break because I'm going on a month-long missions trip to Paraguay!!! So exciting! So I guess that's how I take a break--by working on other things that need to get done. I find that spending time living life makes my writing richer, so I'm trying to tell myself not to be in a hurry about writing. I can't rush to get published or to write that best seller, because the more I live, the more material I have to write about, even if I'm writing fiction.
So...yeah! Living=better writing!
Enjoy your break, you've certainly earned it. As for me, so far, little breaks here and there are fine, so far.
ReplyDeleteThe stories I've had published all have one thing in common. They were all roundly (and rightly) rejected the first time I sent them out (45 seconds after finishing them). Then, after putting them aside and hidden away in my underwear drawer (dolphins wear underwear) I would come back to them weeks and sometimes months later once the wounds had healed. In all cases, fresh eyes and distance allowed me to see the flaws and revisions came smoothly becuase I was no longer too close to the work to see what it needed. So, I am a big believer in putting your project aside completely for a length of time. Writers, will never be able to "shut off", but the freedom to let your mind explore without the constrains of a project will in the end provide you with a much richer and deeper well from which to draw. Happy Vacation and - in if on the shore and you see a beached mammal - give him a little nudge back into the water ;)
ReplyDeleteI've been on writing hiatus, myself. The entire month of May, I've allowed myself to just read. It's been wonderful. Enjoy your recharge time. You deserve it. :)
ReplyDeleteTaking a break is always imnportant, for the year I've written three books and have been doing a lot of editing, but right now I'm in an in between time and my focus is switching to more artistic endeavors so I'm drawing and painting again for the first time in months. I love being immersed in my writing but when I'm not I still have other things to occupy myself with. Enjoy your haitus!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful break Authoress. May you come back full of energy and optimism. It's hard being a writer in the current economy/publishing house panic, etc. It's hard not to take it personally. But you're way ahead of most and you obviously have a calling.
ReplyDeleteSo take a break and let it call out to you.
And in my case, writing is what I do when I'm not at work, or helping with homework, or fixing dinners/lunches, doing laundry...ugh. If I didn't write, then my whole life would be the other stuff. So I only try to take a day a week off and sometimes an extra day or two creeps in.
Bon voyage!
Good for you for taking the time to refresh and relax! I don't often take willing breaks from writing; more often, they're "forced" on me by illness or family vacations or the kids being out of school.
ReplyDeleteBut what I've discovered is that when I do let my mind rest and simmer without structure, plans, or goals, the most amazing, "exactly right" ideas bubble to the surface. They're like epiphanies that INSIST on breaking through because I've provided that free space in my mind.
So take that yellow notebook along, do lots of reading for pleasure, relax and recharge (then relax some more) and see what bubbles up! Enjoy!
What funny timing - I'm on vacation at the beach right now, working on revisions on my manuscript. The thing is, when, other than while on vacation, do I get enough of a break from Regular Life to devote hours a day to the manuscript? I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than tinkering with my memoir while peeking over the top of my laptop at the waves crashing on the beach.
ReplyDeleteWith my kids at home for 6 weeks, writing is out of the question. So that will be the time I'll try to relax and recharge. It's not really easy but I'll manage.
ReplyDeleteRecharging is important, so please enjoy your time off. Your Muse will come home with loads of new impressions that will help to make your stories richer.
Have a great vacation. Seriously though, you know it's going to be hard not to write anything. Writers always have things floating around in their heads. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHave a blissful break!
ReplyDeleteYou will be missed :)
Read you again soon!
Every time my boss comes back from vacation, she complains about how much she missed work (even though she checks into the office every day from her hotel).
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think she's insane ;-).
Everyone needs a break sometimes - and, more importantly, everyone needs to be able to forgive themselves for taking that break.
Have fun! :-)
Before I was published, I got good at taking long, refreshing breaks between projects. Now, however, I feel pressured to have something in the hopper at all times. When one project is completed/getting reviewed by my agent/with my editor, I'm busy working on something else so as not to break the cycle.
ReplyDeleteI think once I'm more established in my career, I'll be better about refreshing myself between projects. Right now, I'm new enough that being without a contract can be kinda scary. I haven't been published long enough to have a backlist or to rely on incoming royalties.
I'm so glad you're taking a break! As much as we love you, you need to recharge and spend precious time with your *real* family, without your blog family or book characters intruding. And you will come back full of fresh ideas and sand and renewed energy to get back to work!
ReplyDeleteI take a lot of writing breaks. Most of it is due to my life, but I find that it does help to slip things in that underwear drawer Happy Dolphin was talking about and let them ferment (nice to know Dolphins wear underwear!)
We just got back from the coast (Pacific). I took along my favorite notebook and my action scene, as your recent Drop the Needle and notes from a writing friend had me itching to revise.
I didn't touch a thing, except to write in my notebook: "Tsunami. Really?" Which probably means I need to do a better job of relaxing!
Have a wonderful time off line! I think everyone who blogs frequently should take time off, so they don't get burned out. I hope you do something that is both fun and relaxing in your blog break. We will all be here when you come back. :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite recharge strategy is sitting in my float in the middle of the pool with a good book.(And the family doesn't call me in to make dinner!)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your much deserved break!
Have a wonderful time and a great break, but we'll all want the truth when you get back. Did your brain actually stop turning things over and over? Were you able to truly stop for a little while? I did a day once, maybe two, but I think I had the flu! Pulling away is hard and while I can unplug myself from the computer, I can't stop my brain from working itself in circles!
ReplyDeleteLet me know your secrets to success when you get back! : )
Excuse me! Smiley face pull yourself together!
ReplyDelete: )
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ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful vacation! I'll be driving across the country towing a trailer full of shop tools to my brother-in-law with two rowdy boys trapped in the back seat. Want to trade? ;) Have a fabulous time - you deserve it!
ReplyDeleteNo rock bottom allowed!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your break--may you have plenty of chocolate and cashews! Weren't you by the beach last year? Will there be a return trip soon?
Have a wonderful break!
We're going to miss you, by the way, during this little time while you're out. = ) I know I will
ReplyDeleteTake you time! I'll miss you though. I love opening your website and seeing a new post on your blog.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss you when you're gone. :)
ReplyDeleteBut we ALL need a recharge. The difficult part is knowing when to take that break...from everything, even writing. I've been struggling getting back in the habit of writing everyday so no vacation for me this year. :) That being said, I do give myself permission to step away when things become overwhelming. Right now I'm working on picture book texts, revising my 2nd novel, beginning a third and working on a nonfiction proposal. Sounds busy, sure, but I need all of it right now.
Enjoy that vacation, Authoress. You deserve it.
Good for you for taking a break! But before you go, I needed to say thanks for all you do for aspiring authors on this blog. The feedback I received here helped me to make my first chapter much stronger. And I even got a nibble from an amazing agent here. So thank you!!
ReplyDeleteNow, go put your feet up :)